Soon after Whittaker's death in 1847, he went into business as a publisher in Southampton Street, The Strand, London, and there issued a publication called The Self-Educator.
He next opened a shop for new and secondhand books in Great Russell Street, Bloomsbury, near the British Museum; but after a while he gave up business for writing.
In 1831 he was a contributor to Henry Hetherington's Poor Man's Guardian, and afterwards to the Weekly Times, in which he published the series of articles signed ‘Littlejohn.’ He was for some time sub-editor of Douglas Jerrold's Weekly Newspaper, and was editorially connected with the Weekly Times and with The Leader.
On the death of his uncle, in 1864, he succeeded him as clerk of the Painter-Stainers' Company, an office which had been held by his grandfather.
His tragedy, ‘Garcia, or the Noble Error,’ was produced at Sadler's Wells on 12 December 1849.